By Stan Caldwell
stanmansportsfan.com
 
HATTIESBURG – The William Carey men seem to be rounding into form as Southern States Athletic Conference soccer play gets underway.
 
The Crusaders used a stifling defense and just enough on offense to defeat Blue Mountain College 2-0 in the SSAC opener for both teams Saturday at Danny Owens Field.
 
Carey won its fourth straight game to improve to 5-1-1 overall; the Toppers dropped to 3-6 overall.
 
"We had a lot of chances; we're creating a lot of chances," said Carey head coach Barry Farrell. "We created 49 shots in our last game, and 33 today; we've just got to do a better job of finishing those chances."
 
The Crusaders caused the Toppers all kinds of problems with its fast-paced tempo, but were unable to get a ball into the net through the first 20 minutes of play. In that period, WCU got 11 shots, including four on goal, and four corner kicks without a score.
 
"Some teams are just going to set up to make it difficult for us," said Farrell. "Play five in the back, maybe a 5-3-2, and try not to get beat by four or five goals.
 
"I give them credit; they made it difficult for us in the first half, and I think maybe we lost a little bit of discipline. But they were no threat going forward for us; we've just got to do a better job of finishing off teams like this."
 
Freshman Jamie Wynne set the tone for Carey less than three minutes into the game with a hard shot on net that forced BMC goalkeeper Gabriel Omeneze to make a diving save on.
 
Junior Juan Ruiz Cabello had two shots on goal, and Wynne added another in the first 20 minutes.
 
On the fifth shot at Omeneze, however, the Crusaders struck paydirt. Sophomore Caoimhin McConnell rifled a shot that the Topper keeper knock right onto the foot of Wynne, who buried the shot for his first goal of the season at 20:44.
 
"I was buzzing to get one in," said Wynne. "Off the left foot into the top left corner, I think it was. I'll have to watch the replay, but I enjoyed that one.
 
"The build-up was good, and Caoimhin slipped through and got a shot on it. The keeper made a good save. I just pressed, won it back and it just popped up for me."
 
Carey got five more corners in the remainder of the first half, but were nevertheless unable to get anything on net. The Crusaders got 12 corner kicks for the game, while Blue Mountain didn't get a single one.
 
"We tend to play in the middle and work from the back," said Cabello. "But it was too close and we didn't have enough space, so we tried to move them out and have better chances."
 
The second half was more evenly played, but the Toppers were unable to get anything forward. BMC only had one shot for the game, and that didn't come until just over a minute left in the game.
 
By then, Carey had finally secured the insurance goal it needed at 82:49, when sophomore Branden Bermingham headed in a loose ball in front of the goal mouth for an unassisted score.
 
"I was very relieved to score there at the end," said Bermingham, one of a trio of Irish players Farrell has brought in from his native country.
 
"It was kind of a strained game up front. I'm just glad we got the win. I think from the get-go, it was us in control. We started in the back and kept it going across. It was all about getting it into the net and getting the win."
 
Between Bermingham, Wynne and McConnell, the trio accounted for 16 of Carey's 33 shots and seven of the Crusaders' 14 shots on goal. Bermingham had 8 shots, two on goal, Wynne had 4 shots in all, three on net, and McConnell had 4 shots and two on goal.
 
Cabello, Carey's leading scorer from last season, added 6 shots and four on goal, as he seems to be rounding into top condition after missing much of the preseason with a back injury.
 
"I was two months in Europe, getting treatment, and I think I'm back," said Cabello. "I'm fit enough to play."
 
A subtle shift in formation seemed to give the Crusaders more of a forward push, and added to a dominant presence
 
"We just wanted to press them high and put them under pressure," said Wynne. "We can score goals from the high pressure and pin them back. We've been working really hard in training on a new formation, with two up front instead of a 3-5-2 that they've played in the past."
 
Carey will hit the road next weekend for a pair of games in Georgia, Friday at Life University and Sunday at Dalton State.